Sunday, May 29, 2016

Run without regret (Run for the Red Marathon 2016 race report)

That’s what my son said, when I told him that the Pocono Marathon two Sundays ago would be my last chance to qualify for Boston (2017) in my current age group (threshold qualifying time of 3:55). My third and last planned marathon for this year is in November, a qualifying result from which would be for Boston 2018. For the latter, I’ll be in the next age group, with 15 more minutes for BQ (threshold qualifying time of 4:10). So, I’ll all but certain qualify and actually be able to get in. I will have “aged” into qualifying. Meh! That’s why I so wanted to BQ at Pocono.


Run without regret. I really like these three words and what they represent. Perfect as a mantra, of which I made good use during Pocono’s run. It made the difference between yet another missed-the-BQ-by-just-a-few-seconds run and BQ, albeit by just making the threshold time (3:55:00).

                                          Oh, yea, oh, yea, my GPS watch says BQ!

                                                      Just ahead of the 3:55 Pacer Yoshiko

The Pocono Marathon is kind of special for me. It was here where I ran my first sub-4 marathon (2014) and, now, where I finally BQ’ed. But, with just a threshold qualifying time, my chance of actually getting in for Boston 2017 is pretty much nil—unless everyone in my age group, for some strange reason, decides not to run next year. :) I’ll still submit my registration, of course. Regardless, I’m absolutely thrilled! Before the race, I’d thought, well, if I just qualify and don’t actually get in, it doesn’t quite count. Afterwards—and after five years of trying—it feels like a pretty big deal!

At bib pickup the day before the race, I talked with the pace group people about pacing strategy. There were pace groups for 3:55 and 3:50. I needed ~3:52 or faster (to qualify and get in for 2017). So, my question was should I stay with the 3:55 pacer for the front half and then try to catch up to the 3:50 group? Or, should I go with the 3:50 pacer and try to hang on for the last 10K? At the pasta dinner hosted by the local Rotary Club the night before the race, a fellow runner sat down across from me who had been a pacer for other races. I asked him what he thought I should do. He suggested, given the course profile, I should take advantage of the elevation loss in the first 2/3 of the course and follow the 3:50 pacer and, then, just try to hang on.

Which was what I ended up doing. The following chart shows my pacing and finishing times for Pocono 2014, 2015, and 2016. It also shows the three fairly distinct segments of the course: Miles 1-18, Miles 19-23, and Miles 24-26. I’ve named the front 18 the “primrose path” and the series of rolling hills of Miles 19-23 the “buzz saw” (to the unwary!). (See course profile and map.) The last three miles are relatively flat, starting on Wallace Street, followed by N 6th Street and then Main Street, before turning into the parking lot of Stroudsburg High School and ending with a ¾ run around its stadium track—Olympic style!


The pace chart shows 4:00, 3:55, and 3:50 pacing for the first 18 miles, for 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively. I used the even pace strategy in 2014, by staying just ahead of the 4:00 pacer pretty much all the way to the finish. In 2015, I began with the 3:55 pacer, even though that was risky, given the forecast high temperatures in the 80s. And, sure enough, that run ended with the usual “death march” after Mile 18. This year, I began with the 3:50 Pacer Dan; but, then, feeling good—and with visions of a sub-3:50!—I stepped onto the “primrose path” between Miles 5 and 16 and went ahead of Pacer Dan. He eventually caught up with me around Mile 17. We ran together the next couple miles, before he went ahead shortly after we got into the “buzz saw” segment. What saved me this year was the almost ideal temperature, which began in the upper 30s and ended in the upper 50s. The cool temperatures helped me contain the upward trend of the “death march.” The forecast ~15 mph wind turned out to be not much of a factor. This year, then, I used the “banking time” strategy—though not on purpose! (This strategy, of course, is not recommended.)

                                  Pocono Marathon course profile: Net elevation loss, but deceptive!



                                 Pocono Marathon course map

The pace chart also shows the importance of pacers. Pacer Dan helped me maintain a sub-3:50 pace for the front 18. That “banked time” mitigated my error of succumbing to the temptation of the “primrose path.” But, what really helped me cross the finish line not one second slower and, thus, BQ was having Pacer Yoshiko pass me shortly after I got out of the “buzz saw” and onto Wallace Street. As I was struggling through the “buzz saw,” and as those mile splits steadily slowed, I saw my BQ slipping away. I kept saying to myself, you blew it—and all kinds of other negative things! On Wallace Street, with three miles left, I felt as I had nothing left.

But, then, something happened, as Pacer Yoshiko passed me with some words of encouragement. It brought back the thought of running without regret. I said, damn it, I’m not going to miss BQ again by a few seconds, regardless of my earlier pacing error. I'm not going to, on the drive home, once again regret that I was not able to run a few seconds faster over 26 miles. Or, chose not to.

It was the first time I felt I was able to really reach deep down and tap into that 50-65% unused potential that the body reserves to prevent catastrophic failure. (See Tim Noakes’ 2012 review article in Frontiers in Physiology, "Fatigue is a brain-derived emotion that regulates the exercise behavior to ensure the protection of whole body homeostasis.") I thought if I could just keep Pacer Yoshiko in sight, then I’d still have a chance to BQ. Many pacers run to finish with a few seconds to spare. I took a final 5-second walk right before the turn onto Main Street, around Mile 25, and just hanged on for that last mile. I don’t know how I did it—that last mile was kind of blurry—other than just one stride at a time. My pace even got slightly faster. Pacer Yoshiko then did a really nice thing; using some of those spare seconds, she stopped at the entrance to the Stroudsburg High School stadium and said “You did it!” as she encouraged everyone onto the track. She then followed me to the finish.


So, that was how I finally, after five years of trying, managed to BQ--with not a fraction of a second to spare. :)

I’ve written about the Pocono Marathon itself the previous two years (Pocono 2014, Pocono 2015). Here are a few more details:

- The national anthem right before the start was one of the best renditions I’ve heard in all the races I’ve been to. I found out later that the singers were a group of students from the Pocono Mountain East High School. Very impressive!
- As usual, the volunteers were superb. Helpful and cheerful, sunshine or rain. There was a period of the latter, not too heavy but cold, around Miles 17-18. I was glad that I’d decided not to dress for the finish temperature (in shorts) and went for, instead, a pair of light tights.
- I love that volunteer who stood at the top of the last significant hill before Wallace Street around the beginning of Mile 24 and said, this is the last hill, I promise!
- For a mostly non-city race, the spectator support was really good and helpful. Numbers varied along the course but were particularly high around Mile 9, at the intersection of Routes 314 and 611, and at the half way point, shortly after turning from Red Rock Road onto Route 191, a main road going down to Stroudsburg.
- Race shirt is short-sleeved this year, with a nice and simple design.



Of course, I’ve been rethinking quite a bit about my pacing decision and implementation. Had I not gone onto the “primrose path” and, instead, stayed with Pacer Dan, would I have been able to keep up with him longer? Had I started with Pacer Yoshiko, would I have been able to better negotiate the “buzz saw” and perhaps push ahead of her in those last three miles? Either way, could I have finished three minutes faster (3:52)? I would never know, of course.

No matter: Boston qualified, I am. :) And, I ran without regret!